In a computer application, there are numerous ways to present user information. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on computer systems allow easy use of windows, control icons, etc. to display information to the user. The data displayed in a window may be of different types. Some may be graphical, such as icons or pictures, or textual, such as a word processing document, or a combination of both.
When a computer interface is used for data management in a scientific application, the interface may include various data-specific tools and functions. To handle images, for example, an application might desirably present one or more windows for viewing the image, a tool for changing the image's appearance (e.g., sharpness), and a tool to measure features of one or more images.
Unfortunately, the unique combination of functionality required for many imaging applications is not provided in a simple and easy to use computer interface. Specifically, available user interfaces, even those developed to handle imaging applications, do not provide a suite of particular image presentation and analysis tools that allow users to manipulate and measure image features with minimal navigation through the user interface.
Interfaces for available applications typically require that the user first select or open various windows, menus, buttons, and/or tiles and then and then manipulate the resulting tool to implement a single operation pertinent to image analysis. Because the user may be required to perform numerous operations for a single image, or handle numerous images simultaneously, the available user interfaces are generally very awkward or unwieldy. Obviously this compromises user efficiency and effectiveness in evaluating images.
Specialized in-vivo imaging applications can present particular challenges to the design of an appropriate user interface. In one example, the image may include one or more representations of emissions from internal portions of a specimen superimposed on a photographic representation of the specimen. The photographic representation provides the user with a pictorial reference of the specimen. The luminescence representation indicates portions of the specimen where an activity of interest may be taking place. For example, the in-vivo data may include light emissions from specific regions of the specimen used in tracking the progression of tumor or a pathogen within the specimen.
In view of the foregoing, an improved user interface for imaging applications would be highly beneficial.